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Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Carnival - Fog On The Tyne

Sittin' in a sleazy snack-bar snuckin' sickly sausage rolls... No, not the Lindisfarne hit once destroyed by a 90s football hooligan, Fog On The Tyne is Part A of the new Carnival release to arrive recently in the Frequency-Ireland postbox. A punktastic pop pleaser with as many hooks and as much punch as any bubble gum pop you are likely to hear on the waves today.

With the surprising success of their debut single Andy's 15/Tunnels, produced by the award winning producer Kramer, the band's new release is another step in the right direction, offering both variety and substance. While the opener bears more than a subtle nod to 70s punk pop, with all the get up and go of Eddie & The Hot Rods, the vocal vigour of Debbie Harry, and the vibrancy of vitreo, Part B takes a nod to Neil Young with a touching ballad of how the wicked plunder on the fragile soul. Alas, amped to immodest proportions, Precious Ground has overtures of 80s indie-rock, with that obligatory guitar solo thrown in for a measure just when you thought it was safe to hear it through to the end unscathed. More appealing is the rather less overstated b-side, Shooting Blind, a folk political allegory that wears its 60s Dylan idealism on its sleeve in noughties dystopia, and a fine track worthy of more than b-side status. The EP rounds off with a quaintly colloquial radio interview on KCLR FM featuring in studio performances of Tunnels and Precious Ground. Recommended, warts and all. 8/10.